Zunnie sat with her legs crossed facing the patient laying on the comfy couch. She was busy taking notes as she asked him questions. This happened to be his third session and she had not gotten a word from him. His eyes were always shut tight when he laid down. Seeing him like this she wrote,
"...lack of sleep, again. Patient appears tired and keeps his eyes shut during the session."
He had vowed silence and had not uttered a word in two months. It began after his father remarried. His parents have been divorced for a year now, but he was still upset. His mom had been having a difficult time and decided to bring him to her for counseling.
Zunnie really wanted to help him. Based on the information his mother and father gave her, it seemed as if his vow of silence was caused by the unwanted changes that had been happening in his family. She knew it would take her a while to treat him because he was refusing to speak. She smiled and looked up from the chart she had been reading.
"So tell me, how was school today."
There was no reply.
"How about this. Every time I️ ask a question, you give me a thumbs up for yes or good, and a thumbs down for no or bad. Does that sound good? So, how was school?"
He hesitated then slowly raised his thumbs up to say it was good. Zunnie smiled.
"That's good."
"Did you speak with your friends?"
There was a long pause before he made a thumbs down gesture.
This continued until the session ended. Even though it was little progress Zunnie was glad he had not ignored her completely like the first session.
As she walked him to his mother who had been waiting in the lounge, she patted his back and praised him for doing a good job in today's session. He flinched when she touched him. Zunnie quickly pulled her hand back and acted as if she had not seen it.
"I️ will see you on Wednesday. Don't forget to use the thumb signals when you don't want to speak. Okay?"
When they left, she walked back to her office and added to the notes she had been taking. She sighed as she flipped through his chart. Zunnie already guessed what the issue was, but she wanted him to speak to her first before she could ask.
She was busy reading through files and taking notes when she heard a knock on the door.
"Yes?"
"Dr. Bai you have a visitor." Her secretary walked up to where she sat.
"Who is it?" She asked curiously hoping it was Alex surprising her.
"She says her name is Victoria Bell. I have no idea who she is."
"Did she say what she was here for?"
"She refused to say. Only that she wanted to have a word with you."
Zunnie had always been a curious girl. So out curiosity, she agreed to see who the person was.
"Zunnie Bai…?" A tall, skinny and stunning woman walked into Zunnie's office a few seconds later. She had long black hair and grey eyes. Zunnie had seen her before but she couldn't recall where.
"Yes, that's me. I hear you're wanting to speak with me. How can I help?"
"I guess I'm in the right place. Victoria Bell." The young lady walked up to Zunnie and introduced herself.
"Good to meet you, Miss Bell. Are you here for counseling?"
"Ahh…pardon me for being rude. I'm not here for any counseling. I heard Alex threw away a whole lot of money at an auction and I was curious as to whose feet the money landed on." Victoria said, her voice laced with sarcasm as she eyed Zunnie from head to toe.
"News sure travels fast…Are you by any means Alex's financial advisor?" An amused Zunnie asked.
She was fully aware of the cynicism thrown at her by the women standing in her office. She was baffled that this person had the audacity to appear at her workplace with their personal misconceptions.
"Who are you? I don't think I've heard of you."
"I'm Victoria Bell and I'm a model with A LaMode."
"Ahh, I know where I've seen you. You did that perfume commercial for Laude."
"Yes, that was me," Victoria answered proudly.
"But I don't understand why you are asking me about Alex's money when it was only an auction." Zunnie furrowed her brow as she waited for an answer.
She wondered if Victoria was one of the women bewitched by Alex's charisma. She had heard that there were a few of them and later they would come causing problems for her. However, she had no idea it would be so soon. No-one knew about her relationship with Alex except for her family. But, she figured the person standing next to her had to be one of those delusional women.